Steele was anything but fine. Physically, his body was recovering rapidly, thanks to his dragon and Fleur. He’d defeated death, and now he needed to protect and claim his mate. She was his. He knew that now, and he was shaken by power of what that meant.

His true mate, a gift from the First Dragon and his mate, the White Witch.

He never expected to find her. His Wyvern Jakob Zeleny had found his true mate recently and the entire dragon community had gone bat-shit bonkers over it.

Dragons had taken many human companions and lovers for centuries and those unions had produced thousands of dragon sons. Not since the First Dragon had a dragon had a true mate.

Until Jakob, and now Steele.

Jakob’s power had increased to well beyond that of any other dragon alive, but his soul was now tied to another, making them both vulnerable in ways the entire dragon community was trying to sort out.

Steele had felt the surge in power, and the crippling vulnerability tonight. Now his soul, his dragon, and frankly his libido, were crying out to claim Fleur.

The sooner he could bite her, mark her, claim her and bed her, the better.

He still held her hand tight to his chest, along with his shining shard. He would give it to her, give her his soul, just as soon as he claimed her.

He wrapped the ends of the cord around her fingers. “Little flower, can you tie this around my neck again?”

“Yes, what is it? Why did the black dragons want it?”

He released her hand just long enough for her to reach around his neck and knot the broken cord.

The dragon part of himself practically purred at having her arms around him. It pushed him to rub himself all over her. He would do that and so much more.

“They are demon dragons, and I don’t know why they were trying to take it. But, I’m glad you rescued it, because it is quite literally a piece of my soul.”

She gasped and her eyes widened, the green looking deeper, richer than before. “Your soul? But, how?”

He closed his eyes for a brief moment and inhaled her floral scented skin and hair. He could hardly wait to see what her pussy tasted like. “I’ll explain it all after we get you back inside. There could be more demon dragons lurking.”

Aric butted in before Fleur could respond to him. “How many of those damned things are here?”

Steele didn’t take his eyes off of Fleur, the moment his pendant hit his chest it glowed, and so did Fleur’s necklace. Both with the same rich green.

She glanced down at her necklace, then at his shard. He took her hand in his again. Both the shard and her hands imbued him with warmth and power.

Aric growled low in his chest. The wolf needed to protect his mate just as much as Steele needed to ensure Fleur’s safety. He deserved an explanation.

“There are many more demon dragons than dragons in the world. The Black Dragon creates new ones faster than we can kill them. If they have come to Blue Creek because of us, I’m sorry for that. But, we will stay and battle them as long as is needed to protect you, your mates, your children, and the souls of your clan.”

“Fuck me.” Aric’s fangs and claws extended again. “They already killed you once, you asshole. How in the hell do we get rid of them?”

Steele pushed Fleur behind him, returning Aric’s partial transformation with his own.

Dax butted in. “Steele and I have trained since birth to fight against them. We’ll teach you what we can, and call for reinforcements.”

“You fucking do that. We just ended a war, I don’t want to get involved in another one.”

Enough. He’d given all the attention he was going to allow to anyone else. “We can discuss plans and strategy tomorrow. Now I need to take Fleur back up to her apartment and make sure she is unharmed and safe.”

Aric growled deeper, but his mate held him back. Smart woman. Steele may have been defeated by the demon dragons for a moment, but now that he was back and had Fleur by his side, he was stronger and more powerful than before.

The wolf would be no match for him.

Fleur shook her head. “I’m fine. I’m not the one who died tonight.”

Dax moved to their side, putting himself between them and the angry wolf alpha. “Yes, but you did do something no one who isn’t a green dragon has done before.”

“It must be...” Fleur broke off, she sucked in her cheeks and frowned. “I was going to say inherited from my mother, but that doesn’t seem right.”

Something niggled at the back of Steele’s brain. He couldn’t quite grasp it though. “What about your father? What was he?”

“Umm.” Fleur looked around at the other people. She was hesitant to tell either him or them. She shifted from one foot to the other and looked down at the ground. “I never knew my father, and my mother wilts if I even try to bring him up.”

Barbara clapped her hands three times to get everyone’s attention. “Let’s get everyone home now. Boys, you can each take one of the other ladies, can’t you? The rest of the enforcers can escort the remaining women from the party and get them home safely. It’s a big day tomorrow.”

Fleur gave Barbara a grateful glance, and Steele kicked himself for pushing her to reveal part of herself like that in front of all these people.

He’d make it up to her.

Barbara came over and looked between him and Fleur, quirking her head to the side, then smiling. “Fleur, dear. Let your dragon take you back upstairs.”

“But, I—” She shook her head and again tried to yank her hand from his grip.

He was never letting her go. Never.

“I know you don’t need him too, but it will make him feel better. He’s had a long night, what with dying and all.”

Fleur glared at him. The fire inside her made her so damn adorable he wanted to lick every bit of her skin right there in front of everyone. He had a new idea to use his dragon tongue to —

“Fine, but you’re helping me clean up.”

He’d scrub her toilet if she asked him to, and he didn’t even clean his own bathroom.

They all went back into Fleur’s apartment. The she-wolves, their mates, and the enforcers gathered the rest of the women from the party and broke off into groups. Dax got nominated to escort two especially giggly ladies who’d decided to make more cocktails for all the non-shifters while they waited for the coast to be clear. Steele recognized one of them as the crab-clawed pincher. He’d warn Dax, but the dude would probably enjoy it.

The three of them were the last ones out of Fleur’s place. She shut the door behind them and leaned back against the wood, closed her eyes, and sighed.

Finally, he had her all to himself, and the first thing he was going to do was carry her to her shower and then her bed.

She still had his blood on her, and looked exhausted. That was mostly his fault.

His dragon tore at him to claim her, right the fuck now. But he held a tight rein, keeping the beast under the skin. He would care for her, make sure she felt the love that was in his soul for her, first.

Love. Yes, so much more than pure lust. It blew his mind that he could be head over tail in love with a woman he’d met only a few hours ago, but he was.

It must be what knowing there was one person made especially for you, and you for them, meant. She was beautiful, and special, and talented, and all the things he could ever want in a mate. While all that had him completely attracted to her, his soul recognized the amazing inherent value of her, just being her.

“Okay, Steele. Everyone’s gone, I’m safe, you can—whoa.”

Steele picked her up under her legs and headed to where the bedroom and bathroom had to be.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him like the side of a cliff. “What are you doing, we discussed this. I’m too heavy to be carried around like this, you’ll drop me.”

As if. “The only place I’m dropping you is on my cock, after you’ve had a long shower where I rub soap all over each and every one of your curves.”

She stopped clinging and paddled her legs, wriggling in his arms. “Put me down right now.”

What he wanted was her wriggling under him. “No.”

“I will scream my head off bringing every wolf shifter in the city back here to tear you apart.” She took in a deep breath, scrunched up her eyes and opened her mouth wide to do exactly as she’d declared.

Steele set her down, but he also pushed her back against the wall and covered her open mouth with his own. He licked and caressed her tongue with his, inhaling her flavor.

She resisted for the briefest of seconds, then she wrapped her hands into his hair and kissed him back with as much fervor as he was giving to her.

She broke the kiss with a bite to his lip and gave him a shove.

His dragon groaned, loving the rough side of her, the part that had given in and then continued the chase.

“No, means no, buster. Get that through your damn dragon head.”

That was actual anger in her eyes. Gulp.

“I’m sorry, little flower.” He searched for the right words to appease her. “Do you want me to ask permission each time I want to kiss you?”

His dragon was quite literally laughing at him in his head. But, he would do whatever it took to be with his mate even if it was learning a new way to be in a relationship.

“What? No, eww. I don’t want a guy who is submissive. I like the alpha bit. But, even an alpha needs to make sure I’m actually on board for it first.”

Okay, he could work with that. “Are you on board for a hot shower, where I wash your body, and eat your pussy?”

The tiniest of smiles quirked at the side of her mouth, and the sparkle in her eye said she liked that idea. A lot.

“Yes, but not now and not with you. I am going to the scenting ceremony tomorrow. I probably already smell like you as it is. I’ll need about a thousand gallons of my homemade body wash to smell like me again.”

Oh, hell no. He laid his hands on the wall on either side of her shoulders, caging her against the wall. She was his from now until eternity. No wolf, dragon, man, or any other male would ever, ever even sniff her. “You are not going to the scenting ceremony.”

Her face did some eye and brow gymnastics. First her eyes went wide and her brows up, then she narrowed them into a glare, and finally she raised one eyebrow. God, it would be fun learning all her expressions. But, the ones he most wanted to see right now were the ones she made when she came. On his cock.

She poked him in the chest three times, punctuating each of her words. “Yes. I am.”

She didn’t know. She wasn’t a dragon, he didn’t even know what exactly she was, so maybe she didn’t understand. He only barely understood this mating pull himself. “You are my mate.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger and sighed. “Look, Steele. I will admit you’re sexy as hell, and I’m more attracted to you than I want to be.” Her gaze flicked from his eyes to his lips and back. “You kiss like Bacchus himself. But, just because I saved your life doesn’t mean we’re mated. We have a connection, yes, but I’m mating a wolf. Tomorrow. It’s my destiny.”

Fuck a duck to hell and back.

Fleur skirted under and out of his arms and popped into the bathroom before he could grab her and kiss some sense into her. Instead he found himself thumping on the door. “Fleur, let me in.”

“Go pound sand and not my bathroom door. If you break it, I’m sending you back to whatever afterlife you were in, because that’s where my landlord will send me.”

The water turned on, and an earthy soapy scent wafted under the door. Coconut, moss, something floral. The other thing he scented was her arousal.

She might be denying them both at the moment, but he was assured that at least her body was responding to him.

A faint buzzing sound came through the door. An electric razor? Not in the tub.

A vibrator?

If she started moaning he was going to break the door down and her landlord could bite him. Her orgasms were his to provide and he’d be damned if she ever needed to own a self-pleasuring toy ever again.

“Fleur, why don’t you let me come in and do that for you?”

The buzzing stopped. “You can hear that?”

“Yes, baby, and it’s killing me. You don’t need that thing anymore. I promise my tongue will feel better.”

She opened the door and pointed an electric toothbrush at him. He barely noticed it because she was wearing nothing but a towel, loosely wrapped around her, and it was slipping.

Her creamy bronze skin just begged to be uncovered and worshipped. Come on, towel, give a little more.

“I am not letting you brush my teeth with your tongue. Now, go home, or wherever you’re staying.” She waved the toothbrush around and with each movement of her arm, her towel came undone a little more.

If he could make her mad enough to really go at him, she’d be naked in no time.

She tried to slam the door on him again, but he smacked it with his hand, holding it open. “I’m staying right here, flower, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.

His voice came out lower and growlier than he’d meant. But, a new wave of her arousal shot between them like an avalanche.

“I’ll take you to bed, and love you long and hard, and then soft and slow, over and over, until your mind and body are in such a state of bliss that you’ll never want me to leave.”

Her neck and faced flushed and her eyes dilated. Yeah, she wanted that too.

“You...you...,” she swallowed and backed away, still waving the toothbrush like a sword. “You...dinosaur. You’re going to ruin everything. I’ve got a destiny, dammit.”

Destiny Schmestiny. He’d never thought fate had plans to give him a mate, yet here she was.

“The only thing I’m going to ruin is your desire to mate a wolf.” He pushed his way into the bathroom. The steam from the water running into a mountain of bubbles in the tub, wafted into her bedroom through a connecting door. He was no blue dragon, but if she wanted to have bathtub sex, he would oblige.

It wouldn’t be as fun as rolling around in say, a forest, or a wide-open field, or the mud, but there would be plenty of time for that. Just as soon as he convinced her she was his mate and claimed her.

“Come here and take off your towel, let me see more of your luscious body.” He continued forward and Fleur backed up with each advance. “Let me kiss and suckle each of your curves, let me fill my hands with your plump ass.”

Her back was against the wall, he had her now.

“Did you just say my butt is big?”

Mmm. There was her fire.

“Yes, and I love it. I can hardly wait to bend you over so I can kiss it, and lick it, and fuck it.”

A sound that was remarkably like a squeak came out of her mouth and she threw the toothbrush at his head.

He ducked, and she bolted past him and into her bedroom. He reached for her and snagged her towel, trying to grab her. All he caught was a glorious glimpse of all her nakedness before she slammed the door in his face. Again.

He’d be worried if he didn’t hear her giggling on the other side of the door. Fleur was enjoying the chase as much as he was. The dragon part of him was practically jumping up and down clapping his hands. Only because he knew he’d catch her soon.

The other door to her room was in the hallway, and it was wide open.

Vines poked out from under and over the door, rapidly growing across it and the ceiling. His shard glimmered and his dragon reveled in being surrounded by the greenery. Was Fleur doing this?

Within seconds the bathroom has turned into a full on green-house, with a complete mesh of vines covering the other door.

“Let’s see you get out of that, dragon.”

Steele approached the doorway, marveling at delicate weave blocking his way. He reached out to touch the plant, and a particularly large leaf smacked his hand away.

Unless Fleur was in imminent danger, there was no way he’d destroy her beautiful and creative attempt to escape him.

He knew he needed to claim her and soon, but morning was not that far away, and they both needed rest. He’d let her have the rest of the night to let the idea of being his mate settle in.

The water was still running in the bathtub. Now with the vines and leaves filling the room, the water seemed like a steamy spring. He could use a soak to soothe his muscles.

He turned off the water and dropped his clothes to the floor. When he climbed in he immediately wished Fleur was in there with him. One last try. “Your bath is nice and hot, little flower. Why don’t you join me and let me wash your hair?”

He didn’t say the hair on her head.

“Ha. Good try. Don’t leave a ring of scales on the tub.”

Damn.

The water only came up to the lower part of his chest, and his legs were long enough he had to bend them, but whatever she’d put in the water was fresh and earthy.

Every part of him relaxed, except his cock which had been hard pretty much since he’d seen Fleur the very first time.

He fisted it, wishing his hand was Fleur’s instead. He had every intention of closing his eyes, imagining her hand, then her mouth on his cock. Within three long strokes he’d fallen asleep.

Steele was flying through a pine forest. He was breathing hard and his lungs were working overtime. But, not because he was tired. It was the excitement of the chase.

He caught a glimpse of the gorgeous pure white dragon as she weaved between a copse of trees a hundred yards ahead of him. She was a better flyer than he was, but he’d catch her.

Because she wanted to be caught.

She giggled and called to him, her sweet voice resonating in his head.

“Catch me if you can, mate.”

“Oh, I’ll do more than catch you, little flower.”

He circled to her left and dove down, flying inches over the forest floor. His scales blended with the leaves and the ground cover, but he could spot her shimmering white body a mile away.

She zigged and zagged through the trees, slowing and looking over her shoulder for him. When she didn’t see him, she circled back. Then he knew he had her.

She fluttered to the ground, landing silently, glancing around at the bushes, knowing he was hiding.

Her bright green eyes glowed so brightly, like the shard of his soul. It almost took his breath away.

Steele darted forward, folding his great wings in tight to push his speed. A half a foot in front of her, he swooped up landing on his feet in front of her

She gasped and turned to run away.

Not this time. He encircled her with his wings, trapping her against him, embracing her.

“Now you are mine.”